Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Teenage pregnancy rates in Ireland

I saw a girl with one of those fake babies today- they give them to girls (and sometimes boys too i think) to take home and look
after for a few days so they can have a "taster" of what it's like to have to look after a real baby. They've had this scheme
for some time- it's not a compulsory thing, just something schools can opt to do- but as far as i know it hasn't affected the pregnancy rates among teenagers in Britain, which i believe are very high compared to other European nations. I was wondering what the situation is in Ireland, and do you have this sort of scheme over there? what is the policy on sex education
in Irish schools and do teenagers have good access to contraception there? And now that Ireland isn't such a religious nation, have attitudes changed towards single parents, particularly young girls
I do not think the is any stigma attached to single parents and single parents who are young girls any longer but there was for a time a feeling that a lot of young girls were getting pregnant because it was easy to get a flat or a house if you had children on your own and then some of them would move the partner in with them so getting all the benefits of being a single parent while having a partner
I have not see a lot of young pregnant girls in recent times, not sure if access to contraception is easier but sex education in schools has improved greatly

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